


candy wrappers on the rooftop

by pinkfen



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angry Sex, Awkward Crush, Confessions, Enemies to Lovers, First Kiss, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Meet-Cute, Rutting, Sexual Tension, Slice of Life, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:35:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29249625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkfen/pseuds/pinkfen
Summary: Jisung is no stranger to being pestered by unwanted admirers, but he never expected having to fend off his arch-nemesis.
Relationships: Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 2
Kudos: 100





	candy wrappers on the rooftop

**Author's Note:**

> this is a rework of a got7 fic I wrote in 2015 for chensung bc I felt they fit in the characterisation the best ;3 I hope you enjoy

”Did you know your name means successful ambition in Chinese?" Jisung hears one day, lying on the school rooftop with his eyes closed and the afternoon sun beating down on his skin pleasantly.

He squints open one eye to see Zhong Chenle from his class, his face partially eclipsed by the starburst of the sun, so dazzling that Jisung's eyes sting and water. He blinks and when he opens them again, Chenle has shifted so his head is now almost completely blocking out the sun, shielding Jisung's face and casting a cool shadow over him.

Jisung slowly props himself up on his elbows and gets into a sitting position, confused. Chenle transferred to their school at the beginning of sophomore year but although they were classmates, they had never spoken directly before. Jisung can't deny this is partially deliberate, because he felt an inexplicably intense dislike for Chenle the moment he laid eyes on him.

Jisung has never really given a thought as to the reasons why. Chenle is simply one of those people who are easy to hate, because he is loud-mouthed and obnoxious and annoying, like an incessantly buzzing gnat.

But maybe Jisung's hostile feelings have a more selfish and unmentionable source. He doesn't like to brag, but it was a fact that before Chenle's unwelcome arrival, Jisung had undeniably been the most popular boy in class, if not in their grade. He was popular with both guys and girls, most females nursing a crush on him and most males eager to be his friend. Jisung had taken the attention for granted, but only realized how much when he lost it.

Jisung doesn't understand Chenle's appeal. Chenle is aloof and guarded. He's not as smart or tall as Jisung and his Korean is embarrassingly poor. The only reason Jisung can come up with is that Chenle is fascinating to the other students because he's from abroad.

Harbouring these quiet but threatened feelings of rivalry, Jisung went out of his way to avoid Chenle. He made sure never to meet his eyes even when they brushed past each other in class, and always surrounded himself with his diminished but still impressive circle of adoring friends.

Nonetheless, on occasion, Jisung couldn't help noticing out of the corner of his eye Chenle's ridiculous antics, the effortless way he seemed able to make people laugh. It made Jisung curl his lip with more contempt, dismissing Chenle as a basic attention-seeker. Jisung felt superior when he pondered that the conversations Chenle had and the thoughts in his head couldn't be as deep and profound as Jisung's. Jisung was well-liked not only by his classmates, but by the teachers too for being a model student. In contrast, Chenle didn't seem to care much about his grades and Jisung disdained him further for it.

In this way, Jisung passed the first few months of sophomore year without ever interacting with Chenle. His popularity had waned a little but remained reasonable, and Jisung reconciled himself to the fact that he'd have to put up with Chenle's annoying presence in the class, always hovering in the periphery of his vision. The only thing he could do was swear that he would never talk to him if he could help it.

-

All had been going according to plan, until today when Jisung uncharacteristically decided to cut class. For some reason he couldn't put a finger on, he was mildly moody. The dark and gloomy feeling niggled at the back of his mind the whole day, dragging his heart down like a paperweight.

At break, the overcast sensation became more like a brewing storm cloud, and Jisung just couldn't bring himself to face another afternoon of lessons. So he had unobtrusively slunk out of the class and down the empty corridors as the bell signalling the end of break rang, meandering absently without direction up the staircase. He was kind of surprised at how easily he had been able to escape without anyone detaining him, even though just a few minutes ago he had been surrounded by a group of enthusiastic chattering friends. They had seemed excited enough to banter and joke with him, but not perceptive enough to notice when he disappeared.

There’s an odd bereftness in his chest at the realization of how dispensable he was. Maybe those people he had called his friends for a year were not actually as close to him as he thought.

Jisung tries to cast these depressing thoughts from mind as he finds his feet bringing him to the rooftop of the school. He’s never been up here before, usually too busy mingling with friends in crowded areas like the cafeteria and class to visit deserted quiet areas of the school like this.

But when he climbs the last step and pushes open the door, stepping into the gently warm sunlight, the tranquility feels strangely soothing, a not unpleasant change from the usual boisterous rowdiness he is used to. Jisung tentatively scans the dulled granite of the rooftop and is relieved to see no one in sight. He can hear the drone of a teacher's voice from the third floor classrooms below, the tangible midday sleepiness permeating the air and making him yawn.

Jisung resolutely cleanses his mind of thoughts and clambers up the ladder onto the top of the water tank, settling down heavily and stretching out his body like a cat basking in the sun. He closes his eyes.

After what feels like a few minutes, as Jisung is drifting into a comfortable shallow doze, he is startled awake by the aforementioned question ringing out above.

His eyes fly open to see Zhong Chenle looming over him, studying him with inquisitive eyes. Jisung hastily sits up, his guard rushing up, the familiar irritation rising in his stomach.

But he keeps the testy edge out of his voice with skill as he says blankly, "What are you doing here?"

Chenle hunkers down beside him abruptly without any invitation, and Jisung instinctively shifts on his haunches, leaning away. Chenle doesn't seem to notice his displeasure at the invasion of his personal space, frustratingly dense and oblivious as he replies with ease, "I noticed you ditching class."

Jisung thinks he hears a hint of mocking, of smugness in Chenle's imprecise but confident Korean. He bristles.

"I wasn't ditching!"

Chenle's eyes widen as they look at him, and he laughs out loud, bold and ringing in the silence. Jisung flushes despite himself.

"If you say so," Chenle drawls blandly, and Jisung glares at him, no longer bothering to hide his loathing.

"Are you ditching?" he snaps, and Chenle looks surprised by the icy tone in his voice.

But he recovers and smiles, slick. "Totally." He meets Jisung's eyes with a glint of challenge, as if he’s gotten the upper hand by admitting it.

Jisung resists the urge to roll his eyes. "I don't care," he says, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Can you leave me alone?"

Chenle's smile wavers for the briefest instant, but he doesn't seem to hear Jisung's blatant rudeness, ignoring the question and repeating his initial statement. "Did you know your Chinese name is Zhicheng? Zhi means ambition, and Cheng means success.”

Chenle's eyes shine like he's sharing a revelation, like Jisung is supposed to be impressed.

Jisung does roll his eyes this time. "How the hell do you know my Chinese name?" he demands without embellishment.

Chenle laughs, but the fair skin of his good-looking face pinkens. "Your hangul name was written on the board when you had to do duty. I converted it to Chinese characters."

"That's creepy as fuck," Jisung retorts, lip curling in a sneer. He feels a bitterness in his throat that Chenle had apparently been interested in his name, and been paying attention to him all this while. Wonders how to extricate himself from this situation. Jisung is no stranger to being pestered by unwanted admirers, but he never expected himself to have to fend off his arch-nemesis.

Chenle appears a little uncomfortable at Jisung's nastiness, his smile slipping awkwardly but remaining impressively unflagging. He cheerfully pretends not to hear Jisung's answer, instead reclining with his hands clasped behind his head and a gusty sigh.

Jisung stares, unable to believe his utter shamelessness. He has made himself more than clear that Chenle's company is undesired, but the other is still lolling on the ground beside him like he doesn't give a fuck.

But for some reason, Jisung remains rooted, not getting to his feet and walking away, as far from Chenle as he can. He tells himself that he's too tired, and besides he came here first and doesn't have to be chased away by Chenle. But as he sidles to the corner of the water tank, putting more space between them and lies down again on the sun-warmed granite, turning on his side so he doesn't have to face Chenle, he finds himself thinking about the information Chenle gave him.

-

He’d vaguely been aware that Chenle was Chinese in ethnicity, even though he was mostly heard speaking in English (which in Jisung's humble opinion, was pretentious). He loved showing off his English and that was one of the things Jisung abhorred most about him. His own English was pretty fluent, but he never bragged or flaunted it unnecessarily. Jisung prided himself on his modesty, on keeping a low profile. He felt he was as classy as Chenle was unrefined.

"Why are you telling me this?" he blurts out in frustration, the words leaving his mouth before he can think them over. Immediately, he bites his tongue, wishing he’d kept his big mouth shut and not given Chenle any further encouragement.

Jisung doesn't turn around and Chenle doesn't answer for so many beats that Jisung thinks he is not going to, or has fallen asleep. But then Chenle says quiet, his voice unexpectedly warm, "I thought you looked sad."

-

Jisung zips his mouth shut for the rest of the afternoon. They lie on top of the water tank in stilted silence, every so often interrupted by the cawing of birds soaring overhead and the ever-present muffled drone of the teacher's voice from the third floor. Chenle neither leaves nor tries to initiate further conversation.

Jisung doesn't leave, either. He just lies there and lets the exhaustion and stress seep out his body, emptying his mind of all thoughts and feelings. The sky above is a neverending ceiling of blue, and Jisung feels an odd, new sense of peace stealing over gradually. His chaotic thoughts slow down, Chenle's presence ceasing to bother as much as before. It's funny but when he's not talking, Chenle is a lot less annoying. The only indication that he's still lying on the water tank a few feet away is the barely audible rise and fall of his languid breathing, a lullaby which is oddly calming to Jisung's ears.

-

Jisung falls asleep a second time, and jerks awake when the dismissal bell rings loud, blinking in groggy disorientation. When he remembers where he is, he spins around, stomach twisting with relief to see the place now empty, Chenle gone without a trace. Jisung would've convinced himself he imagined the whole encounter except for the sight of a crumpled candy wrapper, lying on the scarred, aged granite where Chenle had been sitting.

Jisung unwittingly conjures an image of Chenle sitting behind, chewing and watching him as he slept. It makes a shudder of distaste curl his toes and Jisung groans as he climbs down the ladder and makes his dreary way back to the classroom to get his bag and leave school.

-

A week later, Jisung’s feet lead him back to the rooftop, climbing up the tank with bated breath. Discomfort surges when he sees someone already there, dangling his legs over the side and staring into the horizon.

Chenle turns at his footsteps, looking unsurprised to see him, and not completely peeved at being disrupted. Jisung wonders if Chenle actually... likes him, or at least doesn't mind his presence. He wonders if he has been reading all the signals wrong and Chenle doesn't actually detest Jisung as much as Jisung detests him. Maybe he even wants to be friends.

Jisung gulps at the thought. Can Chenle really be so utterly impervious to Jisung's obvious and undisguised dislike for him? Had he not one ounce of shame? He was truly one of a kind, Jisung thinks scornfully, shaking his head.

Chenle turns around again at that very moment, catching the gesture, and looks confused for a second before his lips curl up in a hesitant smile. "Are you okay?" he breaks the silence, and Jisung stops cold, completely flustered because that was not what he was expecting Chenle to say.

"None of your business," he shoots back gruffly flinging himself down at the opposite end of the tank, as far away from Chenle as possible. He registers the familiar disquiet Chenle invokes in him, and has the overpowering urge to climb down the ladder and run as fast as he can from the rooftop. But something he cannot explain keeps him exactly where he is.

Chenle doesn't say anything, and Jisung can't see his expression either since their backs are facing each other. He wonders why he's so curious about how Chenle's expression looks right now, why he even cares.

The jitters continue tormenting Jisung as he fumes silently, staring unseeing into the distance and feeling Chenle's presence behind him, but they eventually settle down like butterflies going into slumber in his stomach. He wants to say something barbed and stinging about him having discovered the water tank and the rooftop first, and that Chenle should get the fuck off his back, but he's too tired to even be snarky.

As long as Chenle keeps his mouth shut, Jisung can almost pretend he's not there. He sighs in discontent and pillows his head on clasped palms, leaning back to let his tense body rest on the sun-baked asphalt. The warmth seeps through his thin uniform shirt, relaxing the muscles in his back and settling a drowsiness over him.

His eyelids droop and flutter closed and when Jisung wakes, the sun is sinking in the horizon and Chenle is nowhere to be seen again. This time, there isn't even a stray sweet wrapper to remind Jisung that it wasn't a daydream.

-

A few days later, Jisung finds himself back at the rooftop again, heart pattering an uneven rhythm against his chest -- with exertion, he tells himself -- as he ascends the rungs of the ladder.

A sinking feeling weighs on his heart when he sees the top of the water tank deserted this time. The drab, dilapidated small square looks even more desolate without Chenle's unwanted presence. Jisung realizes he should probably be happier than he is that his wish of being alone is fulfilled at last, but he feels unaccountable emptiness as he flings himself down in the middle of the tank and splays his legs out defiantly. He's going to enjoy this rare freedom if he can help it.

Jisung is feeling increasingly bored and lonely, rolling disconsolate onto his side when someone nudges his back and his heart leaps into his throat. He swivels around, sitting up, to see Chenle wearing an apprehensive smile and his creased, untidy uniform with the noose of his tie loosened over the undone top button of his shirt and shirttails falling out sloppy. His hair is scruffy and tousled, but somehow he still manages to look like a million bucks.

Jisung recovers and shoots him a scathing glare. "Can you stop bothering me for one day?" he fires, the unfriendly insult tumbling out his mouth before he can think it through, loosened by the rattled confusion he’s been feeling at Chenle's absence for the past hour.

This time, Chenle blanches, his cocky smile faltering. Jisung notes it with perverse satisfaction, triumph stealing over him as he sees Chenle's uneasiness show for the first time.

He expects Chenle to ignore the remark with his usual selective hearing, brazenly and unapologetically plop down beside Jisung, crowding into his personal space without any sense of embarrassment.

But Chenle doesn't. Today, he stops on the top rung of the ladder, not making a move to advance any closer to Jisung.

"Sorry," Chenle mumbles uncertainly, his voice lower than Jisung has ever heard it. "I'll go if you don't want me here."

He turns to leave, eyes moving away from Jisung, no longer seeing him, and Jisung feels a chill ghost across his skin at the sudden loss of Chenle's gaze. He had thought the constant, glowing warmth bathing his skin belonged to the sunshine. He didn't realize it had emanated from Chenle's intent, dark eyes.

The words lodge like a lump in Jisung's throat and he swallows hard, stomach dropping.

"Wait!" he chokes, just as Chenle's head disappears below the edge of the tank.

There is an interminable, oppressive silent pause before a tuft of Chenle's hair appears, and Jisung's heart soars in relief. Slow, hesitant, Chenle's eyes appear above the edge, then his nose, then lips. Jisung has never really studied him in such close proximity before, and he’s suddenly uncomfortably aware of the penetrating impenetrability of Chenle's eyes, the regal slope of his nose and bitten red lips. His sculpted jawline.

Chenle looks lost in a way Jisung has never seen before -- unguarded. There's a leaping light in his eyes that makes Jisung's breath catch.

"Zhicheng," Chenle says quietly, the syllables of his Chinese concise and velvet, making a warmth pool in Jisung's gut. "What do you want?"

Chenle's eyes gleam, hopeful and imploring, like he's waiting for Jisung to say a magic word that will lift the spell. The short words seem to shimmer with a million other meanings. Jisung's mouth is dry, his tongue parched. He tears his gaze away from Chenle's piercing one and manages to rasp hoarsely, "I want..."

Chenle patiently waits, eyes glittering and never leaving Jisung's. Jisung takes a deep breath and crawls on his hands and knees over the granite of the tank, closing the remaining distance between them. Chenle doesn't flinch away, just remains stock still, his eyes growing both brighter and darker as Jisung approaches.

When they are a hair's breadth apart, Jisung is the one who surges recklessly and kisses the faint smirk off Chenle's lips, all traces of laughter out of his countenance, delving his tongue beyond Chenle's parted lips and into the dizzying warmth of his mouth, seeking Chenle's and tangling them together until Chenle is panting and his hands rise up behind Jisung's neck to grab the back of his head roughly and twist in his hair.

Jisung scrambles without grace, without breaking the kiss, desperate to close the last gap between them, unmindful of the gritty gravel scraping his palms, and Chenle leans forward with equal eagerness, swinging himself clumsily up the last rung and onto the ground, his mouth still attached to Jisung's. He nearly loses his balance and topples backwards, steadying himself in the nick of time, but the momentum causes him to tumble onto Jisung, sprawling heavy over him. Their teeth knock and Jisung hisses as Chenle's canines pierce his tongue slightly. But the pain is nothing compared to the impact of Chenle's full body weight crushing the air out of him as he lands awkwardly between Jisung's legs, which are spread uncomfortably wide around Chenle's hips.

Jisung can feel the tautness of Chenle's abdominal muscles through the flimsy fabric of their uniforms, his hard, strong thighs, the sharpness of his hipbones digging into Jisung's pelvis. Suddenly, every inch of his skin is tingling with a scorching heat and his body is nothing but sensation. Jisung has never felt as acutely aware of his own body as he does beneath Chenle, when he realizes that he's just a bunch of fizzing nerve endings and electrodes.

Chenle inhales sharply, face and the tips of his ears flushing blotchy as he struggles to roll off Jisung, instead ending up accidentally bringing his knee towards Jisung's crotch and kneading.

Jisung can't contain the gasp that escapes, brings his hands to Chenle's chest to shove him away too late for Chenle not to sense that he is shamefully hard.

Now, Jisung is the one whose face is burning like a house on fire. Chenle's flush deepens as well, but his breathing also quickens and becomes laboured, and as Chenle braces a hand on the ground beside Jisung's head to push himself up Jisung feels an unmistakable hardness brushing against his inner thigh.

Chenle lets out a choked noise -- Jisung is not sure at the contact, or because he hadn't succeeded at hiding it. He gets his answer a heartbeat later when Chenle grinds his crotch against Jisung's, without a shadow of doubt deliberately this time.

Chenle lets out an obscenely loud groan as their cocks rub through the fabric, and Jisung squirms away in horror, but halfhearted and without exerting his full strength. Chenle overpowers him, eyes screwed shut and teeth gritted. His hands rise to pin Jisung's wrists, the breathtaking weight of his lower body and his knee pushed up between Jisung's thighs pinioning Jisung immovably to the ground.

Jisung whimpers, and Chenle seems irritated by the noises, clamping his mouth over Jisung's again to muffle them. In retaliation, Jisung digs his fingernails into Chenle's back and rakes them down his skin, almost vengeful as if trying to inflict pain. Chenle curses and sinks his teeth, warning, into Jisung's bottom lip. As his lips move against Jisung, he rolls his hips forward in sloppy dry thrusts, rutting against Jisung's cock.

Chenle's mouth grows wetter and hotter against Jisung as the pace and force of his thrusts intensify. Jisung unconsciously wraps his legs tight around Chenle's waist, locking his ankles behind Chenle's back and his mind spins light-headed at the filthy, agonized pants that Chenle fails to muffle with his mouth.

White heat flashes behind his eyelids, sparks exploding in his groin. The familiar sensation of release, like the ground has opened up beneath him and he's plunging into a bottomless abyss. His entire body convulses with the uncontrollable force of his orgasm, a warm stickiness spreading over the crotch of his pants as Chenle groans gutturally and climax rocks his body too.

He shudders to a halt between Jisung's legs, obviously spent as his skinny frame sags against Jisung's. Their panting is embarrassingly harsh as they struggle to catch their breaths, and Chenle is steadfastly refusing to meet Jisung's eyes. His clumsiness seems back in full force as he attempts to roll off Jisung again, knees buckling unexpectedly and causing his face to land on Jisung's neck. Jisung feels the moist softness of Chenle's lips pressed to the sensitive juncture where his shoulder and collarbones meet, and a shiver ripples through him.

Chenle recoils, still avoiding Jisung's eyes as he sits up shakily and edges away, placing more distance between them. A hollowness opens in the pit of Jisung’s stomach.

-

"S-sorry," Chenle finally speaks up huskily, breaking the silence. "I --"

"Are you gay?" Jisung blurts, his voice cracking. He hasn’t stopped trembling, and Chenle appears concerned but mortified as he meets Jisung's eyes.

"No," he replies eventually in a pained whisper. "Are you okay?"

Jisung flinches away instinctively when Chenle reaches out to touch him, his mind reeling from the answer. Chenle's face pales and his hand falls back to his side, looking so anguished and heartbroken that Jisung's mind swirls in deeper bewilderment.

"Then why...?" he forces through clenched teeth. Searches Chenle's expression. "Were you just... playing with me?" Saying the words splinters his heart in two and Jisung has no idea why.

"No!" Chenle says with vehement urgency. "Never," he says, voice all of a sudden gentler, so soft that Jisung could drown in it.

Chenle raises tormented eyes to meet his. "I've wanted you since the first day," he murmurs, and Jisung's pulse leaps.

"I..." He clears his throat. "I thought you hated me," he breathes in wonder.

Chenle exhales a humourless laugh. "You were the one who hated me," he says, quiet.

Jisung looks at him, his forthright, clear gaze. "I did," he confesses, and the raw pain that flickers across Chenle's features is too real to be an illusion. So he wasn't as clueless as he had pretended to be.

Chenle lowers his head, long lashes downcast, devastation spelled across every inch of his face. Jisung's heart clenches and palpitates in his bruised chest. But then Chenle raises his eyes in disbelief, fixing them on Jisung as they bore into him, the emotions playing like a movie across their expressive irises -- surprise, vulnerability, then breathtaking, exhilarating happiness, and Jisung realizes why when he hears the two simple words he's saying, words that change everything.

"Not anymore.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading my first [and prob only] chenji fic lol, a kudos would make me rly happy if u enjoyed. I only have one other work with chenle in the main pairing, its a nominle threesome titled 'strange and special' and you can find it at gotchick on ao3, my other account, if you like my writing. as I mentioned this fic u just read was orig written more than 5 yrs ago so [I think] my writing now is much better lmao


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